THE PLAYERS CUP: Chasing the dream

Paul Friesen

Updated: August 14, 2019

Travis Fredborg from Selkirk speaks during a press conference at the Southwood Golf and Country Club, where the Mackenzie Tour's Players Cup will take place from Thursday through Sunday, on Wed., Aug. 14, 2019. Kevin King/Winnipeg Sun/Postmedia Network

The road into Southwood Golf and Country Club this week is lined with banners of former Canadian tour players who’ve made the jump to the PGA Tour.

Corey Conners, Adam Long, Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin, Tony Finau – all have not just cracked The Tour, but won on it.

It’s a not-so-subtle reminder for everybody competing in the Players Cup this week: the dream starts here, on Canadian fairways, playing for relative pennies before small galleries.

Travis Fredborg of Selkirk lives that dream on a regular basis.

“A lot,” he said on Wednesday. “Every day. Just like every little kid. You got a 10-footer on the putting green to win the Masters. You make it a lot. But you just need that putt.”

This week Fredborg, a 21-year-old playing on a sponsor’s exemption here, would gladly settle for a 10-footer to win on Sunday.

A member of the University of Arizona golf team the last four years, Fredborg is making his pro debut, playing this event for a fourth time.

But playing it as an amateur is a whole different ball of wax.

“I’ve made the cut twice in the past,” he said. “I know what it takes. I want to be there on Sunday. It’s getting to that point now where I want to enjoy myself, yeah, but I want to be there and I want to win.”

It doesn’t dissuade Fredborg to hear a Manitoban hasn’t won this 100-year-old tournament since Rob McMillan did it as an amateur in 1996, when it was still the Manitoba Open.

“It’s a lot closer than you think,” he said. “Playing with all the local talent, day-in and day-out, you realize how good these guys are. Especially going down to school in the States, I’ve played with some of the top amateurs in the world. Anybody can get hot, that’s really all it is. Skill-wise, we’re all up there.”

Beausejour’s Devon Schade is in a similar boat: 21 years young, venturing into uncharted waters as a pro and full of confidence, if not experience.

“I played in this event four times,” the University of Manitoba product said. “So I have some high expectations of myself. Top 25, even top 10, is something I’d like to shoot for. Hopefully I can play well. I know kind of what it takes. You’ve got to go low here, so that’s my plan this week.”

Schade has a GoFundMe page set up to kick start his pro career. In six months, he’s raised $1,725 of his $10,000 goal.

Yes, it’s tough out there.

And these guys are just getting started.

Austin Dobrescu of Brandon speaks during a press conference at the Southwood Golf and Country Club, where the Mackenzie Tour’s Players Cup will take place from Thursday through Sunday, on Wed., Aug. 14, 2019. Kevin King/Winnipeg Sun/Postmedia Network

Paul Barjon, 26, has been chasing the dream since he left home in France at age 16.

Barjon got to the Mackenzie tour three years ago via Texas Christian University, and with two victories this season leads the Order of Merit with $114,772 in earnings.

He’s poised to make the jump to what’s now called the Korn Ferry Tour, formerly the Web.com and Nike Tour.

“At the end when you think about it, that’s kind of the only way to get to the PGA Tour,” Barjon said. “Unless you play on the European Tour… so I’ve been away from home for 11 years. But it’s a fun lifestyle. I don’t have any kids. Just try to play as much as you can. Because you never know when it’s going to be your week.”

Barjon looks at those banners lining the road, too, and sees himself on one some day.

“I hope so. I played with a couple of these guys. It’s always good to see them successful, and that their game transfers to the next level. Some of them it took a couple or a few years to get on the PGA Tour. But most of the best players out here get there eventually. That’s always encouraging.”

Seeing someone like veteran Scott Harrington finally earn his PGA Tour card on the last weekend of the Korn Ferry Tour a few days ago was, too.

“I think he played 192 tournaments, never won any and never got his PGA Tour card,” Barjon said. “That shows you you never know. Nobody would have put a dime on this guy to get his PGA Tour card in the last tournament. But he got it.”

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